Method and system to place resources in a known state to be used in a composed information handling system

ABSTRACT

In general, the invention relates to providing computer implemented services using information handling systems. One or more embodiments of the invention includes receiving a request to decompose a composed information handling system, wherein the composed information handling system comprises a hardware resource, obtaining a cleaning requirement for the hardware resource, initiating, based on the cleaning requirement, a cleaning operation on the hardware resource, receive a confirmation that the cleaning operation is complete, and after receiving the confirmation, set a state of the hardware resource to allocatable.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices may provide services. To provide the services, thecomputing devices may include hardware components and softwarecomponents. The services provided by the computing devices may belimited by these components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the invention will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings illustrateonly certain aspects or implementations of the invention by way ofexample and are not meant to limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1.1 shows a diagram of a system in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an information handling system in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of hardware resources in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor in accordance withone or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a system control processor manager inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method of instantiating a composedinformation handling system based on a composition request in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method of setting up management servicesin accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method of processing resources associatedwith a decomposed information handling system in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 7.1-7.2 show diagrams of the operation of a second example systemover time in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a computing device in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying figures. In the following detaileddescription of the embodiments of the invention, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understandingof the invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that the invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known features have not been describedin detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.

In the following description of the figures, any component describedwith regard to a figure, in various embodiments of the invention, may beequivalent to one or more like-named components described with regard toany other figure. For brevity, descriptions of these components will notbe repeated with regard to each figure. Thus, each and every embodimentof the components of each figure is incorporated by reference andassumed to be optionally present within every other figure having one ormore like-named components. Additionally, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention, any description of the components of afigure is to be interpreted as an optional embodiment, which may beimplemented in addition to, in conjunction with, or in place of theembodiments described with regard to a corresponding like-namedcomponent in any other figure.

Throughout this application, elements of figures may be labeled as A toN. As used herein, the aforementioned labeling means that the elementmay include any number of items and does not require that the elementinclude the same number of elements as any other item labeled as A to N.For example, a data structure may include a first element labeled as Aand a second element labeled as N. This labeling convention means thatthe data structure may include any number of the elements. A second datastructure, also labeled as A to N, may also include any number ofelements. The number of elements of the first data structure and thenumber of elements of the second data structure may be the same ordifferent.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to systems, devices, andmethods for providing computer implemented services. To provide computerimplemented services, resources may need to be allocated for theperformance of the services. The resources may include, for example,compute resources, control resources, and hardware resources.

To allocate the resources, composed information handling systems may beinstantiated. A composed information handling system may be a device(the components of which may be distributed across one or moreinformation handling systems) that has exclusive use over a quantity ofresources. Resources from multiple information handling systems may beallocated to a composed information handling system, thereby enabling acomposed information handling system to utilize resources from anynumber of information handling systems, for the performance ofcorresponding computer implemented services.

To allocate resources, the system may include a system control processormanager. The system control processor manager may include functionalityto place resources in a known state (e.g., in an allocatable state), toservice composition requests to allocate resources (which are in anallocatable state) to a composed information handling system, to servicedecomposition requests to release resources from the informationhandling system and place the released resources into a cleaning state,initiating a cleaning operation (as appropriate on the releasedresources), and set or confirm that the resource is configured in aknown state, and once the cleaning (if required to be performed) and theconfiguration is in a known state, transitioning the resources back into an allocatable state.

FIG. 1.1 shows a system in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention. The system may include any number of information handlingsystems (60). The information handling systems (60) may provide computerimplemented services. The computer implemented services may include, forexample, database services, data storage services, electroniccommunications services, data protection services, and/or other types ofservices that may be implemented using information handling systems.

The information handling system of the system of FIG. 1.1 may operateindependently and/or cooperatively to provide the computer implementedservices. For example, a single information handling system (e.g., 62)may provide a computer implemented service on its own (i.e.,independently) while multiple other information handling systems (e.g.,62, 64) may provide a second computer implemented service cooperatively(e.g., each of the multiple other information handling systems mayprovide similar and or different services that form the cooperativelyprovided service).

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystems (60) may utilize resources provided by hardware resources. Theresources may include, for example, processing resources, storageresources, memory resources, graphics processing resources,communications resources, and/or other types of resources provided bythe hardware resources. Various hardware resources may provide theseresources.

The type and quantity of resources required to provide computerimplemented services may vary depending on the type and quantity ofcomputer implemented services to be provided. For example, some types ofcomputer implemented services may be more compute intensive (e.g.,modeling) while other computer implemented services may be more storageintensive (e.g., database) thereby having different computing resourcerequirements for these different services. Consequently, resources maybe used inefficiently if the quantity of resources are over-allocatedfor the computer implemented services. Similarly, the quality of theprovided computer implemented services may be poor or otherwiseundesirable if resources are under-allocated for the computerimplemented services.

Clients (40) may request that the computer implemented services beprovided. For example, the clients (40) may send requests to managemententities to have the computer implemented services be provided.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to system, methods, anddevices for managing the hardware resources of the information handlingsystems (60) and/or other resources (e.g., external resources (30)) toprovide computer implemented services. The hardware resources of theinformation handling systems (60) may be managed by instantiating one ormore composed information handling systems using the hardware resourcesof the information handling systems (60), external resources (30),and/or other types of hardware resources operably connected to theinformation handling systems (60). Consequently, the resources allocatedto a composed information handling system may be tailored to thespecific needs of the services that will be provided by the composedinformation handling system.

Overtime, the quantity of resources necessary to provide the computerimplemented services may change. In such scenarios, the resourceallocations for providing the services may be modified. For example,additional resources may be added to existing composed informationhandling systems (e.g., when over-loaded), resources may be removed fromexisting composed information handling systems (e.g., whenunder-loaded), and/or new composed information handling systems may beinstantiated so that some of the existing workloads hosted by composedinformation handling systems can be transferred to the new composedinformation handling systems. By doing so, embodiments of the inventionmay improve the likelihood that computer implemented services areprovided in a manner that meets the expectations of the clients (40).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system includes asystem control processor manager (50). The system control processormanager (50) may provide composed information handling systemcomposition services. Composed information handling system compositionservices may include (i) obtaining composition requests for composedinformation handling systems from, for example, the clients (40), (ii)aggregating resources from the information handling systems (60) and/orexternal resources (30) using system control processors to service thecomposition requests by instantiating composed information handlingsystems in accordance with the requests, and (iii) modifying existingresource allocations (including, via, servicing decomposition requests)for composed information handling systems. By doing so, instantiatedcomposed information handling systems may provide computer implementedservices in accordance with the expectations of the clients.

To determine the utilization of the resources of the informationhandling systems (60), performance of workloads, or other indicatorsregarding the quality of computer implemented services provided bycomposed information handling systems, the system control processormanager (50) may instruct system control processors of the composedinformation handling systems to monitor the use of hardware resources bythe clients (40). This information may be used, for example, toascertain whether additional or fewer resources should be allocated tothe composed information handling systems, to identify whether newcomposed information handling systems should be instantiated, and/or forother purposes.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor manager (50) instantiates composed information handlingsystems in accordance with a three resource set model. As will bediscussed in greater detail below, the resources of an informationhandling system may be divided into three logical resource sets: acompute resource set, a control resource set, and a hardware resourceset. Different resource sets, or portions thereof, from the same ordifferent information handling systems may be aggregated (e.g., causedto operate as a computing device) to instantiate a composed informationhandling system having at least one resource set from each set of thethree resource set model.

By logically dividing the resources of an information handling systeminto these resource sets, different quantities and types of resourcesmay be allocated to each composed information handling system therebyenabling the resources allocated to the respective information handlingsystem to match performed workloads. Further, dividing the resources inaccordance with the three set model may enable different resource setsto be differentiated (e.g., given different personalities) to providedifferent functionalities. Consequently, composed information handlingsystems may be composed on the basis of desired functionalities ratherthan just on the basis of aggregate resources to be included in thecomposed information handling system.

Additionally, by composing composed information handling systems in thismanner, the control resource set of each composed information handlingsystem may be used to consistently deploy management services across anynumber of composed information handling systems. Consequently,embodiments of the invention may provide a framework for unifiedsecurity, manageability, resource management/composability, workloadmanagement, and distributed system management by use of this threeresource set model. For example, utilization monitors may be deployed incontrol resource sets to monitor the use of the other resource sets.Accordingly, use of these resources for providing computer implementedservices requested by the clients (40) may be uniformly monitored acrossthe information handling systems (60). For additional details regardingthe system control processor manager (50), refer to FIG. 4 .

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a composed informationhandling system is a device that is formed using all, or a portion, ofthe resources of the information handling systems (60), the externalresources (30), and/or other types of hardware resources operablyconnected to the information handling systems (60). The composedinformation handling system may utilize the resources allocated to it toprovide computer implemented services. For example, the composedinformation handling system may host one or more applications thatutilize the resources assigned to the composed information handlingsystem. The applications may provide the computer implemented services.Thus, the quality of the computer implemented services may be limitedbased on the allocation of resources to the composed informationhandling systems.

To instantiate composed information handling systems, the informationhandling systems (60) may include at least three resource sets includinga control resource set. The control resource set may include a systemcontrol processor. The system control processor of each informationhandling system may coordinate with the system control processor manager(50) to enable composed information handling systems to be instantiated.For example, the system control processor of an information handlingsystem may provide telemetry data regarding the resources of aninformation handling system, may perform actions on behalf of the systemcontrol processor manager (50) to aggregate resources together, maymonitor the utilization of resources for providing computer implementedservices requested by the clients (40), and/or may provide services thatunify the operation of composed information handling systems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, compute resource sets ofcomposed information handling systems are presented with bare metalresources by control resource sets even when the presented resources areactually being managed using one or more layers of abstraction,emulation, virtualization, security model, etc. For example, the systemcontrol processors of the control resource sets may provide theabstraction, emulation, virtualization, and/or other services whilepresenting the resources as bare metal resources. Consequently, theseservices may be transparent to applications hosted by the computeresource sets of composed information handling systems thereby enablinguniform deployment of such services without requiring implementation ofcontrol plane entities hosted by the compute resource sets of thecomposed information handling systems. Accordingly, by utilizing systemcontrol processors to monitor the use of the resources of a composedinformation handling system, applications or other entities hosted bythe composed information handling system may not be able to view, beaware, impact, or otherwise influence the collection of computingresource use data. Accordingly, relevant information that may be used todecide how to allocate resources may be obtain in a manner that istransparent to the composed information handling systems. For additionaldetails regarding the information handling systems (60), refer to FIG.1.2 .

The external resources (30) may provide resources that may be allocatedfor use by composed information handling systems. For example, theexternal resources (30) may include hardware resources that provide anynumber and type of resources. The composed information handling systemmay use these resources to provide their functionalities. For example,system control processors may operably connect to and manage theexternal resources (30) to provide additional and/or different resourcesfrom those available to be provided only using hardware resource sets ofinformation handling systems. By utilizing system control processors tomanage these resources, the use of these external resources (30) forproviding services requested by the clients (40) may also be efficientlyand transparently monitored.

Different external resources (e.g., 32, 34) may provide similar ordifferent resources. For example, some external resources may includelarge numbers of hard disk drives to provide storage resources whileother may include graphics processing unit rendering farms. The externalresources (30) may include any number and type of resources forallocation to composed information handling systems via system controlprocessors of control resource sets.

The system of FIG. 1.1 may include any number of information handlingsystems (e.g., 62, 64), any number of external resources (e.g., 32, 34),and any number of system control processor managers (e.g., 50). Any ofthe components of FIG. 1.1 may be operably connected to any othercomponent and/or other components not illustrated in FIG. 1.1 via one ormore networks (e.g., 130). The networks may be implemented using anycombination of wired and/or wireless network topologies.

The clients (40), system control processor manager (50), informationhandling systems (60), and/or external resources (30) may be implementedusing computing devices. The computing devices may include, for example,a server, laptop computer, a desktop computer, a node of a distributedsystem, etc. The computing device may include one or more processors,memory (e.g., random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g.,disk drives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may storecomputer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor manager (50),information handling systems (60), and/or external resources (30)described in this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methodsillustrated in FIGS. 5.1-6 . The clients (40), system control processormanager (50), information handling systems (60), and/or externalresources (30) may be implemented using other types of computing deviceswithout departing from the invention. For additional details regardingcomputing devices, refer to FIG. 8 .

While the system of FIG. 1.1 has been illustrated and described asincluding a limited number of specific components, a system inaccordance with embodiments of the invention may include additional,fewer, and/or different components without departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 1.2 , FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an informationhandling system (100) in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. Any of the information handling systems (e.g., 60) of FIG.1.1 may be similar to the information handling system (100) illustratedin FIG. 1.2 .

As discussed above, the information handling system (100) may provideany quantity and type of computer implemented services. To provide thecomputer implemented services, resources of the information handlingsystem may be used to instantiate one or more composed informationhandling systems. The composed information handling systems may providethe computer implemented services.

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystem (100) may include any number and type of hardware resources (alsoreferred to as resources) including, for example, one or more processors(106), any quantity and type of processor dedicated memory (104), one ormore system control processors (114), and any number of hardwareresources (118). These hardware resources may be logically divided intothree resource sets including a compute resource set (102), a controlresource set (108), and a hardware resource set (110).

The control resource set (108) of the information handling system (100)may facilitate formation of composed information handling systems. To doso, the control resource set (108) may prepare any quantity of resourcesfrom any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110) (e.g., of theinformation handling system (100) and/or other information handlingsystems) for presentation to processing resources of any number ofcomputing resource sets (e.g., 102) (e.g., of the information handlingsystem (100) and/or other information handling systems). Once prepared,the control resource set (108) may present the prepared resources asbare metal resources to the processors (e.g., 106) of the allocatedresources. By doing so, a composed information handling system may beinstantiated.

To prepare the resources of the hardware resource sets for presentation,the control resource set (108) may employ, for example, virtualization,indirection, abstraction, and/or emulation. These managementfunctionalities may be transparent to applications hosted by theresulting instantiated composed information handling systems.Consequently, while unknown to the control plane entities of thecomposed information handling system, the composed information handlingsystem may operate in accordance with any number of management modelsthereby providing for unified control and management of composedinformation handling systems. These functionalities may be transparentto applications hosted by composed information handling systems therebyrelieving them from overhead associated with these functionalities.

For example, consider a scenario where a control resource set isinstructed to instantiate a composed information handling systemincluding a compute resource set and a hardware resource set that willcontribute storage resources to the compute resource set. The controlresource set may virtualize the storage resources of the hardwareresource set to enable a select quantity of the storage resources to beallocated to the composed information handling system while reservingsome of the storage resources for allocation to other composedinformation handling systems. However, the prepared storage resourcesmay be presented to the compute resource set as bare metal resources.Consequently, the compute resource set may not need to host any controlplane entities or otherwise incur overhead for utilizing the virtualizedstorage resources (e.g., the compute resource set may send bare metalcommunications to the control resource set, the control resource set maytranslate those bare metal communications into prepared resourcecompatible communications, and the control resource set may send theprepared resource compatible communications to the hardware resourceset).

The control resource set (108) may also enable the utilization of any ofthe hardware components of the information handling system (100) byrespective clients. When a composed information handling system isinstantiated, it (and its hardware resources) may be utilized by aclient by enabling the client to load application onto the composedinformation handling system. For example, the client may cause thecomposed information handling system to execute applications on thecompute resource set (102) which, in turn, may utilize any number ofhardware resource sets (e.g., 110) as part of their execution.

Because the control resource set (108) may mediate utilization ofhardware resource sets (110) by compute resource sets (102), the controlresource set (108) may transparently ascertain the use of the hardwareresources of these resource sets, workloads being performed, and/orother information indicative of load states of the composed informationhandling systems (and/or quality of computer implemented services beingprovided by the composed information handling systems). To do so, thecontrol resource set (108) may intercept (as part of presentingresources of hardware resource sets to compute resource sets)communications between resource sets, monitor workloads being performedby each of the respective resource sets, monitor power utilization bythese resource sets, and/or may perform other actions to identify theuse of these hardware resources by respective clients.

The collected use information may be used, for example, to ascertainwhether additional resources should be added to composed informationhandling systems, to ascertain whether resources should be removed fromcomposed information handling systems, to notify clients of their use ofthese resources (e.g., if the clients are being billed for use as partof a pay for use infrastructure deployment), to obtain informationuseable to estimate future computing resource requirements for hostingvarious applications and/or performing various types of workloads,and/or for other purposes.

The compute resource set (102) may include one or more processors (106)operably connected to the processor dedicated memory (104).Consequently, the compute resource set (102) may host any number ofexecuting processes thereby enabling any number and type of workloads tobe performed. When performing the workloads, the compute resource set(102) may utilize resources provided by the hardware resource set (110)of the information handling system (100), hardware resource sets ofother information handling systems, and/or external resources.

The processors (106) of the compute resource set (102) may be operablyconnected to one or more system control processors (114) of the controlresource set (108). For example, the processors (106) may be connectedto a compute resource interface (112), which is also connected to thesystem control processors (114). The compute resource interface (112)may enable the processors (106) to communicate with other entities viabare metal communications. Also, the compute resource interface (112)may enable system control processors (114) of the control resource set(108) to monitor the activity of the processors (106) and/or processordedicated memory (104) to identify use of these hardware resources byclients. For example, the compute resources interface (112) may supportsideband communications to the hardware resources of the computeresource set (102) thereby enabling utilization information for thesehardware resources to be obtained by the system control processors(114).

The system control processors (114) of the control resource set (108)may present resources to the processors (106) as bare metal resources.In other words, from the point of view of the processors (106), anynumber of bare metal resources may be operably connected to it via thecompute resources interface (112) when, in reality, the system controlprocessors (114) are operably connected to the processors (106) via thecompute resources interface (112). In other words, the system controlprocessors (114) may manage presentation of other types of resources(e.g., resources of the hardware resource set (110)), externalresources, other hardware resource sets of other information handlingsystems, etc.) to the compute resource set (102).

By presenting the resources to the processors as bare metal resources,control plane entities (e.g., applications) such as hypervisors,emulators, and/or other types of management entities may not need to behosted (e.g., executed) by the processors (106) for the processors (106)and entities hosted by them to utilize the resources allocated to acomposed information handling system. Accordingly, all of the processingresources provided by the compute resource set (102) may be dedicated toproviding the computer implemented services.

For example, the processors (106) may utilize mapped memory addresses tocommunicate with the bare metal resources presented by the systemcontrol processors (114) to the processors (106). The system controlprocessors (114) may obtain these communications and appropriately remap(e.g., repackage, redirect, encapsulate, etc.) the communications to theactual hardware resources providing the resources, which the processors(106) are interacting with via the compute resources interface (112)and/or hardware resources interface (116), discussed below.Consequently, indirection, remapping, and/or other functions requiredfor resource virtualization, emulation, abstraction, or other methods ofresource allocation (other than bare metal) and management may not needto be implemented via the processors (106).

By doing so, any number of functions for a composed information handlingsystem may be automatically performed in a manner that is transparent tothe control plane. Accordingly, a composed information handling systemmay operate in a manner consistent with a unified, consistentarchitecture or model (e.g., communications model, data storage model,etc.) by configuring the operation of one or more system controlprocessors in a manner consistent with the architecture or model.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, control plane entitiesutilize resources presented through one or more layers of indirection,abstraction, virtualization, etc. In other words, an indirect use ofhardware resources and resources provided thereby. In the informationhandling system of FIG. 1.2 , the system control processors (114) maypresent abstracted resources, indirection layers, virtualization layers,etc. as bare metal resources,

In one or more embodiments of the invention, data plane entitiesdirectly utilize resources. For example, data plane entities mayinstruct hardware resources on their operation thereby directlyutilizing resources provided thereby. Data plane entities may presentthe resources to control plane entities using one or more layers ofindirection, abstraction, virtualization, etc.

The system control processors (114) may present any number of resourcesoperably connected to it (e.g., the hardware resource set (110)), otherresources operably connected to it via an interface (e.g., hardwareresources interface (116), etc.) as bare metal resources to theprocessors (106) of the compute resource set (102). Consequently, thesystem control processors (114) may implement device discovery processescompatible with the processors (106) to enable the processors (106) toutilize the presented resources.

For example, the hardware resource set (110) may include hardwareresources (118) operably connected to the system control processors(114) via a hardware resources interface (116). The hardware resources(118) may include any number and type of hardware resources that provideresources. For additional details regarding the hardware resources(118), refer to FIG. 2 .

In another example, the system control processors (114) may be operablyconnected to other hardware resource sets of other information handlingsystems via hardware resources interface (116), network (130), and/orother system control processors of the other information handlingsystems. The system control processors may cooperatively enable hardwareresource sets of other information handling systems to be prepared andpresented as bare metal resources to the compute resource set (102).

In an additional example, the system control processors (114) may beoperably connected to external resources via hardware resourcesinterface (116) and network (130). The system control processors (114)may prepare and present the external resources as bare metal resourcesto the compute resource set (102).

The system control processors (114), by presenting resources to thecompute resource set (102), may be able to monitor the utilization ofthe presented resources in a manner that is transparent to theapplications or other entities executing using the processors (106).Consequently, these entities may not be able to interfere withmonitoring of the use of these resources. In contrast, if an agent orother entity for monitoring computing resource use rates is executingusing the processors (106), other entities executing using theprocessors (106) may be able to interfere with the operation of themonitoring entity. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention may providea method of monitoring resources use that is less susceptible tointerference by other entities. By doing so, resource allocationdecisions made based on the collected information may better reflect theactual use of resources by the composed information handling systems.

For additional details regarding the operation and functions of thesystem control processors (114), refer to FIG. 3 .

The compute resources interface (112) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thecompute resources interface (112) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. The computeresources interface (112) may support processor to device connections,processor to memory connections, and/or other types of connections. Thecompute resources interface (112) may be implemented using one or morehardware resources including circuitry adapted to provide thefunctionality of the compute resources interface (112).

The compute resources interface (112) may also support sidebandcommunications between the system control processors (114), theprocessors (106), and/or the processor dedicated memory (104).Consequently, the system control processors (114) may be able to monitorthe operations of these other devices to identify the utilization ofthese hardware resources by clients, identify workloads being performedby these devices, etc.

The hardware resources interface (116) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support processor to deviceconnections, processor to memory connections, and/or other types ofconnections. The hardware resources interface (116) may be implementedusing one or more hardware resources including circuitry adapted toprovide the functionality of the hardware resources interface (116).

In some embodiments of the invention, the compute resource set (102),control resource set (108), and/or hardware resource set (110) may beimplemented as separate physical devices. In such a scenario, thecompute resources interface (112) and hardware resources interface (116)may include one or more networks enabling these resource sets tocommunicate with one another. Consequently, any of these resource sets(e.g., 102, 108, 110) may include network interface cards or otherdevices to enable the hardware resources of the respective resource setsto communicate with each other.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessors (114) support multiple, independent connections. For example,the system control processors (114) may support a first networkcommunications connection (e.g., an in-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the processors (106). Thesystem control processors (114) may also support a second networkcommunications connection (e.g., an out-of-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the system controlprocessors (114). The out-of-band connection may be utilized formanagement and control purposes while the in-band connection may beutilized to provide computer implemented services. These connections maybe associated with different network endpoints thereby enablingcommunications to be selectively directed toward applications hosted bythe processors (106) and/or system control processors (114). As will bediscussed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 3 , the system controlprocessors (114) may utilize the out-of-band connections to communicatewith other devices to manage (e.g., instantiate, monitor, modify, etc.)composed information handling systems.

The network (130) may correspond to any type of network and may beoperably connected to the Internet or other networks thereby enablingthe information handling system (100) to communicate with any number andtype of other devices.

The information handling system (100) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, a server, laptopcomputer, desktop computer, node of a distributed system, etc. Thecomputing device may include one or more processors, memory (e.g.,random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., disk drives,solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may store computerinstructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the information handling system (100) describedin this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustratedin FIGS. 5.1-6 . The information handling system (100) may beimplemented using other types of computing devices without departingfrom the invention. For additional details regarding computing devices,refer to FIG. 8 .

While the information handling system (100) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, aninformation handling system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentswithout departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 2 , FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the hardware resources(118) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Asnoted above, system control processors of information handling systemmay present resources including, for example, some of the hardwareresources (118) to form a composed information handling system.

The hardware resources (118) may include any number and types ofhardware resources that may provide any quantity and type of resources.For example, the hardware resources (118) may include storage devices(200), memory devices (202), and special purpose devices (204).

The storage devices (200) may provide storage resources (e.g.,persistent storage) in which applications hosted by a composedinformation handling system may store data including any type andquantity of information. The storage devices (200) may include any typeand quantity of devices for storing data. The devices may include, forexample, hard disk drives, solid state drives, tape drives, etc. Thestorage devices (200) may include other types of devices for providingstorage resources without departing from the invention. For example, thestorage devices (200) may include controllers (e.g., redundant array ofdisk controllers), load balancers, and/or other types of devices.

The memory devices (202) may provide memory resources (e.g., transitoryand/or persistent storage) in which a composed information handlingsystem may store data including any type and quantity of information.The memory devices (202) may include any type and quantity of devicesfor storing data. The devices may include, for example, transitorymemory such as random access memory, persistent memory such as storageclass memory, etc. The memory devices (202) may include other types ofdevices for providing memory resources without departing from theinvention. For example, the storage devices (200) may includecontrollers (e.g., replication managers), load balancers, and/or othertypes of devices.

The special purpose devices (204) may provide other types of resources(e.g., graphics processing resources, computation accelerationresources, etc.) to composed information handling systems. The specialpurpose devices (204) may include any type and quantity of devices forproviding other types of resources. The special purpose devices (204)may include, for example, graphics processing units for providinggraphics processing resources, compute accelerators for acceleratingcorresponding workloads performed by composed information handlingsystems, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for performingother functionalities, digital signal processors for facilitating highspeed communications, field programmable gate arrays to performcustomized computing functionalities, etc. The special purpose devices(204) may include other types of devices for providing other types ofresources without departing from the invention.

The system control processors of the information handling systems maymediate presentation of the resources provided by the hardware resources(118) to computing resource sets (e.g., as bare metal resources toprocessors). When doing so, the system control processors may provide alayer of abstraction that enables the hardware resources (118) to be,for example, virtualized, emulated as being compatible with othersystems, and/or directly connected to the compute resource sets (e.g.,pass through). Consequently, the resources of the hardware resources(118) may be finely, or at a macro level, allocated to differentcomposed information handling systems.

Additionally, the system control processors may manage operation ofthese hardware resources in accordance with one or more modelsincluding, for example, data protection models, security models,workload performance availability models, reporting models, etc. Forexample, the system control processors may cause multiple copies of datato be redundantly stored, to be stored with error correction code,and/or other information usable for data integrity purposes.

The manner of operation of these devices may be transparent to thecomputing resource sets utilizing these hardware resources for providingcomputer implemented services. Consequently, even though the resultingcomposed information handling system control plane may be unaware of theimplementation of these models, the composed information handlingsystems may still operate in accordance with these models therebyproviding a unified method of managing the operation of composedinformation handling systems.

Further, the system control processors may monitor the use of thesehardware resources by clients. As will be discussed below, the systemcontrol processors may host applications that monitor communicationsindicative of utilization of these hardware resources to determinewhether additional resources should be allocated to them, whetherresources should be deallocated from them, whether new instances ofcomposed information handling systems should be instantiated, etc.

While the hardware resources (118) have been illustrated and describedas including a limited number of specific components, local hardwareresources in accordance with embodiments of the invention may includeadditional, fewer, and/or different components without departing fromthe invention.

As discussed above, information handling systems may include systemcontrol processors that may be used to instantiate composed informationhandling systems. FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor(298) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Anyof the system control processors included in control resources sets ofFIG. 1.2 may be similar to the system control processor (298)illustrated in FIG. 3 .

The system control processor (298) may facilitate instantiation,reallocation of resources to/from composed systems, operation, anddecomposition of composed information handling systems. By doing so, asystem that includes information handling systems may dynamicallyinstantiate, recompose (and decompose composed information handlingsystems.

To perform one or more of the aforementioned functionalities for/to thecomposed information handling systems, the system control processor(298) may include a composition manager (300), a utilization manager(301), a physical resources manager (302), an emulated resources manager(304), a virtual resources manager (306), an operation manager (308),hardware resource services (310), and storage (312). Each of thesecomponents of the system control processor is discussed below.

The composition manager (300) may manage the process of instantiating,operating, and decomposing composed information handling systems. Toprovide these management services, the composition manager (300) mayinclude functionality to (i) obtain information regarding the hardwarecomponents of the information handling system (e.g., obtain telemetrydata regarding the information handling system), (ii) provide theobtained information to other entities (e.g., management entities suchas system control processor manager (50, FIG. 1.1 )), (iii) obtaincomposition requests for composed information handling systems, (iv)based on the composition requests, prepare and present resources as baremetal resources to compute resource sets, (v) instantiate applicationsin composed information handling systems to cause the composedinformation handling systems to provide computer implemented services,conform their operation to security models, etc., (viii)add/remove/modify resources presented to the compute resource sets ofcomposed information handling systems dynamically in accordance withworkloads being performed by the composed information handling systems,(viii) coordinate with other system control processors to providedistributed system functionalities and/or transfer performance ofapplications and/or computer implemented services between composedinformation handling systems; and/or (ix) take steps to, e.g.,gracefully, stop execution of one or more resources that make up acomposed information handling system as part of servicing decompositionrequests received by the system control processor manager (see e.g.,FIG. 6 ). By providing the above functionalities, a system controlprocessor in accordance with one or more embodiments of the inventionmay enable distributed resources from any number of information handlingsystems to be aggregated into a composed information handling system toprovide computer implemented services meeting the expectations ofclients.

To obtain information regarding the hardware components of theinformation handling system, the composition manager (300) may inventorythe components of the information handling system hosting the systemcontrol processor. The inventory may include, for example, the type andmodel of each hardware component, versions of firmware or other codeexecuting on the hardware components, and/or information regardinghardware components of the information handling system that may beallocated to form composed information handling systems.

The composition manager (300) may obtain composition requests from otherentities (e.g., management entities tasked with instantiating composedinformation handling systems), as pre-loaded instructions present instorage of the system control processor, and/or via other methods. Thecomposition requests may specify, for example, the types and quantitiesof resources to be allocated to a composed information handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an intent based model.For example, rather than specifying specific hardware resources (orportions thereof) to be allocated to a particular compute resource setto obtain a composed information handling system, the resource requestsmay only specify that a composed information handling system is to beinstantiated having predetermined characteristics, that a composedinformation handling system will perform certain workloads or executecertain applications, and/or that the composed information handlingsystem be able to perform one or more predetermined functionalities. Insuch a scenario, the composition manager may decide how to instantiatethe composed information handling system (e.g., which resources toallocate, how to allocate the resources (e.g., virtualization,emulation, redundant workload performance, data integrity models toemploy, etc.), to which compute resource set(s) to present correspondingresources, etc.).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an explicit model. Forexample, the composition requests may specify (i) the resources to beallocated, (ii) the manner of presentation of those resources (e.g.,emulating a particular type of device using a virtualized resource vs.path through directly to a hardware component), and (iii) the computeresource set(s) to which each of the allocated resources are to bepresented.

In addition to specifying resource allocations, the composition requestsmay also specify, for example, applications to be hosted by the composedinformation handling systems, security models to be employed by thecomposed information handling systems, communication models to beemployed by the composed information handling systems, services to beprovided to the composed information handling systems, user/entityaccess credentials for use of the composed information handling systems,and/or other information usable to place the composed informationhandling systems into states in which the composed information handlingsystems provide desired computer implemented services.

To prepare and present resources to compute resource sets based on thecomposition requests, the system control processors may implement, forexample, abstraction, indirection, virtualization, mapping, emulation,and/or other types of services that may be used to present any type ofresources as a resource that is capable of bare metal utilization bycompute resource sets. To provide these services, the compositionmanager (300) may invoke the functionality of the physical resourcesmanager (302), the emulated resources manager (304), and/or the virtualresources manager (306).

When presenting the resources to the compute resource sets, the systemcontrol processor (298) may present the resources using an emulated dataplane. For example, the system control processors (298) may receive baremetal communications (e.g., IO from the processors that presumes adirect connection to another hardware resource) and respond in a mannerconsistent with responses of corresponding bare metal devices (e.g.,memory). When doing so, the system control processor (298) may translatethe communications into actions. The actions may be provided to thehardware resources used by the system control processor (298) to presentthe bare metal resources to the compute resource set(s). In turn, thehardware resources may perform the actions which results in a composedinformation handling system providing desired computer implementedservices.

In some scenarios, multiple system control processors may cooperate topresent bare metal resources to a compute resource set. For example, asingle information handling system may not include sufficient hardwareresources to present a quantity and/or type of resources to a computeresource set as specified by a composition request (e.g., present twostorage devices to a compute resource set when a single informationhandling system only includes a single storage device). In thisscenario, a second system control processor of a second informationhandling system operably connected to the system control processortasked with presenting the resources to a compute resource set mayprepare one of its storage devices for presentation. Once prepared, thesecond system control processor may communicate with the system controlprocessor to enable the system control processor to present the preparedstorage device (i.e., the storage device in the information handlingsystem) to the compute resource set. By doing so, resources frommultiple information handling systems may be aggregated to present adesired quantity of resources to compute resource set(s) to form acomposed information handling system.

By forming composed information handling systems as discussed above,embodiments of the invention may provide a system that is able toeffectively utilize distributed resources across a range of devices toprovide computer implemented services.

In addition to enabling the composition of composed information handlingsystem the composition manager (300) may also include functionality todecompose all or a portion of a composed information handling system.The decomposition of a composed information handling system results inall or a portion of the resources that are part of a composedinformation handling system into a cleaning state. Additional detail isprovided in FIG. 6 .

When providing its functionality, the composition manager (300) mayperform all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-6 .

After a composed information handling system is formed, a client maybegin to utilize the hardware resources of the composed informationhandling system by causing desired computer implemented services to beprovided using the hardware resources. The utilization manager (301) maymonitor the use of these hardware resources by the client to ascertainwhether the services provided using these hardware resources meet theexpectations of the client.

To do so, the utilization manager (301) may (i) monitor the componentsof the compute resource sets including the actions being performed,power being consumed, communications sent, etc., (ii) monitorcommunications from the compute resource sets destined for otherhardware resources (e.g., of hardware resource sets, other computeresource sets of other information handling systems, external resources,etc.) by intercepting them as they traverse the system control processor(298), (iii) based on the intercepted communications, estimate use ratesof these hardware resources by the client, (iv) store the use rateinformation, (v) provide the use rate information, and/or (vi) performaction sets based on the use rate information and/or actions specifiedby management entities. The action sets may include, for example,modifying the resources allocated to a composed information handlingsystem, instantiating new composed information handling systems,transferring workloads/applications/computer implemented services toother composed information handling systems (and/or from other composedinformation handling systems to the composed information handling systemincluding the system control processor), and/or perform other actionsthat cause the computer implemented services provided by the composedinformation handling systems better meet client expectations.

The physical resources manager (302) may manage presentation ofresources to compute resource sets. For example, the physical resourcesmanager (302) may generate, for example, translation tables that specifyactions to be performed in response to bare metal communicationsobtained from compute resource sets. The translation tables may be usedto take action in response to communications from compute resource sets.

The physical resources manager (302) may generate the translation tablesbased on the components of the compute resource sets, allocations orother types of commands/communications obtained from the computeresource sets, and the resources of the information handling system(s)allocated to service the compute resource set. For example, when acompute resource set is presented with a bare metal resource, it may gothrough a discovery process to prepare the bare metal resource for use.As the discovery process proceeds, the compute resource set may sendcommands/communications to the bare metal resource to, for example,discover its address range. The physical resources manager (302) maymonitor this process, respond appropriately, and generate thetranslation table based on these commands and the resources available toservice these bare metal commands/communications (e.g., to obtainaddress translation tables, emulation tables, etc.).

For example, consider a scenario where a virtualized disk is allocatedto service bare metal storage commands from a compute resource set. Insuch a scenario, the physical resources manager (302) may generate atranslation table that translates physical write from the computeresource set to virtualized writes corresponding to the virtualizeddisk. Consequently, the virtualized disk may be used by the systemcontrol processor (298) to present bare metal resources to the computeresource set.

The emulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables thatenable resources that would otherwise be incompatible with a computeresource set to be compatible with the compute resource set. Differenttypes of hardware resources of a compute resource set may be compatiblewith different types of hardware resources. Consequently, resourcesallocated to provide bare metal resources may not necessarily becompatible with the hardware resources of a compute resource set. Theemulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables that mapbare metal communications obtained from a compute resource set toactions that are compatible with resources allocated to provide baremetal resources to the compute resource sets.

The virtual resources manager (306) may manage virtualized resourcesthat may be allocated to provide bare metal resources to computeresource sets. For example, the virtual resources manager (306) mayinclude hypervisor functionality to virtualized hardware resources andallocate portions of the virtualized resources for use in providing baremetal resources.

While the physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), and virtual resources manager (306) have been described asgenerating tables, these components of the system control processor maygenerate other types of data structures or utilize different managementmodels to provide their respective functionalities without departingfrom the invention.

The functionalities of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306) may beutilized in isolation and/or combination to provide bare metal resourcesto compute resource sets. By doing so, the system control processor(298) may address compatibility issues, sizing issues to match availableresources to those that are to be allocated, and/or other issues toenable bare metal resources to be presented to compute resource sets.

When providing bare metal resources, the composition manager (300) mayinvoke the functionality of the physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306).Consequently, resources may be presented as bare metal resources viapass-through (i.e., forwarding IO from compute resource sets to hardwareresources), bare metal resource addressing of virtualized resources,and/or as emulated resources compatible with the hardware components ofthe compute resource set.

The functionality of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306) may beinvoked using any communication model including, for example, messagepassing, state sharing, memory sharing, etc.

The operation manager (308) may manage the general operation of thesystem control processor (298). For example, the operation manager (308)may operate as an operating system or other entity that manages theresources of the system control processor (298). The composition manager(300), utilization manager (301), physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306),and/or other entities hosted by the system control processor (298) maycall or otherwise utilize the operation manager (308) to obtainappropriate resources (e.g., processing resources, memory resources,storage, communications, etc.) to provide their functionalities.

The hardware resource services (310) may facilitate use of the hardwarecomponents of any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110, FIG. 1.1). For example, the hardware resource services (310) may include driverfunctionality to appropriately communicate with the hardware resourcesof hardware resource sets. The hardware resource services (310) may beinvoked by, for example, the operation manager (308).

When providing their functionalities, any of the aforementionedcomponents of the system control processor (298) may perform all, or aportion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-6 .

The system control processor (298) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, an embeddedcomputing device such as a system on a chip, a processing deviceoperably coupled to memory and storage, or another type of computingdevice. The computing device may include one or more processors, memory(e.g., random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., diskdrives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may storecomputer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor (298) described inthis application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated inFIGS. 5.1-6 . The system control processor (298) may be implementedusing other types of computing devices without departing from theinvention. For additional details regarding computing devices, refer toFIG. 8 .

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor (298) is implemented as an on-board device. For example, thesystem control processor (298) may be implemented using a chip includingcircuitry disposed on a circuit card. The circuit card may also host thecompute resource sets and/or hardware resource sets managed by thesystem control processor (298).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, any of the compositionmanager (300), utilization manager (301), physical resources manager(302), emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager(306), operation manager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310)are implemented using a hardware resource including circuitry. Thehardware resource may be, for example, a digital signal processor, afield programmable gate array, or an application specific integratedcircuit. The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardware resource toperform the functionality of the composition manager (300), utilizationmanager (301), physical resources manager (302), emulated resourcesmanager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operation manager (308),and/or hardware resource services (310). The composition manager (300),utilization manager (301), physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operationmanager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310) may beimplemented using other types of hardware resources without departingfrom the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, any of the compositionmanager (300), utilization manager (301), physical resources manager(302), emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager(306), operation manager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310)are implemented using a processor adapted to execute computing codestored on a persistent storage (e.g., as part of the system controlprocessor (298) or operably connected to the system control processor(298) thereby enabling processors of the system control processor (298)to obtain and execute the computing code) that when executed by theprocessor performs the functionality of the composition manager (300),utilization manager (301), physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operationmanager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310). The processormay be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, for example, acentral processing unit or a microcontroller. The processor may be othertypes of hardware resources for processing digital information withoutdeparting from the invention.

As used herein, an entity that is programmed to perform a function(e.g., step, action, etc.) refers to one or more hardware resources(e.g., processors, digital signal processors, field programmable gatearrays, application specific integrated circuits, etc.) that provide thefunction. The hardware resources may be programmed to do so by, forexample, being able to execute computer instructions (e.g., computercode) that cause the hardware resources to provide the function. Inanother example, the hardware resource may be programmed to do so byhaving circuitry that has been adapted (e.g., modified) to perform thefunction. An entity that is programmed to perform a function does notinclude computer instructions in isolation from any hardware resources.Computer instructions may be used to program a hardware resource that,when programmed, provides the function.

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (312) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardwareresources and/or logical devices. For example, storage (312) may includeany quantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatilestorage), long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), othertypes of hardware resources that may provide short term and/or long termdata storage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (312) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (312)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (312) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (312) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware resource that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (312) may store data structures including, for example,composed information handling system data (314), a resource map (316),and a resource utilization map (318). Each of these data structures isdiscussed below.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be implementedusing one or more data structures that includes information regardingcomposed information handling systems. For example, the composedinformation handling system data (314) may specify identifiers ofcomposed information handling systems and resources that have beenallocated to the composed information handling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may also includeinformation regarding the operation of the composed information handlingsystems. The information may include, for example, workload performancedata, resource utilization rates over time, and/or other informationthat may be utilized to manage the operation of the composed informationhandling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may further includeinformation regarding management models employed by system controlprocessors. For example, the composed information handling system data(314) may include information regarding duplicative data stored for dataintegrity purposes, redundantly performed workloads to meet highavailability service requirements, encryption schemes utilized toprevent unauthorized access of data, etc.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be maintainedby, for example, the composition manager (300). For example, thecomposition manager may add, remove, and/or modify information includedin the composed information handling system data (314) to cause theinformation included in the composed information handling system data(314) to reflect the state of the composed information handling systems.

The data structures of the composed information handling system data(314) may be implemented using, for example, lists, tables, unstructureddata, databases, etc. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being storedlocally, the composed information handling system data (314) may bestored remotely and may be distributed across any number of deviceswithout departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be implemented using one or more datastructures that include information regarding resources of theinformation handling system and/or other information handling systems.For example, the resource map (316) may specify the type and/or quantityof resources (e.g., hardware resources, virtualized devices, etc.)available for allocation (i.e., in an allocatable state, see e.g., FIGS.5.1-6 ) and/or that are already allocated to composed informationhandling systems. The resource map (316) may be used to provide data tomanagement entities such as system control processor managers.

The data structures of the resource map (316) may be implemented using,for example, lists, tables, unstructured data, databases, etc. Whileillustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally, the resource map (316)may be stored remotely and may be distributed across any number ofdevices without departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be maintained by, for example, thecomposition manager (300). For example, the composition manager (300)may add, remove, and/or modify information included in the resource map(316) to cause the information included in the resource map (316) toreflect the state of the information handling system and/or otherinformation handling systems.

The resource utilization map (318) may be implemented using one or moredata structures that includes information regarding the utilization ofhardware resources of the composed information handling systems,workloads being performed by the hardware resources, and/or other typesof information that may be used to ascertain the quality of computerimplemented services being provided by a composed information handlingsystem. For example, the resource utilization map (318) may specifyidentifiers of hardware resources of a composed information handlingsystem, the workloads being performed by these hardware resources, theutilization rates of these hardware resources, etc.

The resource utilization map (318) may specify the resource utilizationvia any method. For example, the resource utilization map (318) map mayspecify a quantity of utilization, resource utilization rates over time,power consumption of hardware resources while utilized to provide thecomputer implemented services, workload (and/or statuses) performedusing hardware resources, etc. The resource utilization map (318) mayinclude other types of information used to quantify the quality ofcomputer implemented services provided without departing from theinvention.

The resource utilization map (318) may be maintained by, for example,the utilization manager (301). For example, the utilization manager(301) may add, remove, and/or modify information included in theresource utilization map (318) to cause the information included in theresource utilization map (318) to reflect the current utilization of thecomposed information handling systems.

The data structures of the resource utilization map (318) may beimplemented using, for example, lists, tables, unstructured data,databases, etc. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally, theresource utilization map (318) may be stored remotely and may bedistributed across any number of devices without departing from theinvention.

While the storage (312) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor (298) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor in accordance with embodiments of the invention mayinclude additional, fewer, and/or different components without departingfrom the invention.

As discussed above, a system control processor manager may cooperatewith system control processors of control resource sets to instantiatecomposed information handling systems by presenting resources fromhardware resource sets to processors of compute resource sets. FIG. 4shows a diagram of the system control processor manager (50) inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

The system control processor manager (50) may manage the process ofinstantiating composed information handling systems and recomposingcomposed information handling systems over time. To do so, the systemcontrol processor manager (50) may include an infrastructure manager(402), and storage (410). Each of these components is discussed below.

The infrastructure manager (402) may provide composition services.Composition services may include obtaining composition, recomposition,and/or decomposition requests for composed information handling systems,determining the resources to allocate to instantiate composedinformation handling systems, add/remove resources torecompose/decompose all or a portion of a composed information handlingsystems, manage transfers of workloads between composed informationhandling systems for recomposition purposes, and cooperating with systemcontrol processors to allocate the identified resources. By doing so,the infrastructure manager (402) may cause any number of computerimplemented services to be provided using the composed informationhandling systems.

To determine the resources to allocate to new composed informationhandling systems, the infrastructure manager (402) may employ an intentbased model that translates an intent expressed in a composition requestto one more allocations of resources. For example, the infrastructuremanager (402) may match an expressed intent to resources to be allocatedto satisfy that intent. A lookup table may specify the type, quantity,method of management, and/or other information regarding any number ofresources that when aggregated will be able to satisfy a correspondingintent. The infrastructure manager (402) may identify resources forallocation to satisfy composition requests via other methods withoutdeparting from the invention.

To recompose composed information handling systems, the infrastructuremanager (402) may add or remove resources from existing composedinformation handling systems or instantiate new composed informationhandling systems and transfer workloads from existing composedinformation handling systems to the new composed information handlingsystems. Consequently, the composed information handling systemsperforming the workloads may have different amounts and/or types ofresources after being recomposed.

In some embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager (402)may recompose deployments. A deployment may be a group of composedinformation handling systems performing a predetermined function. Insuch a scenario, the infrastructure manager (402) may recompose one ormore of the composed information handling systems of the deployment torecompose the deployment.

The infrastructure manager (402) may recompose infrastructure (e.g.,deployments, individual composed information handling systems, etc.) inresponse to recomposition requests.

To decompose composed information handling systems, the infrastructuremanager (402) identify all or a portion of the resources from a composedinformation handling systems to be deallocated, transfer workloads fromcomposed information handling systems of which one or more resources areto be deallocated, deallocate, after the transfer of the workload, theaforementioned identified resources.

To cooperate with the system control processors for composed informationhandling system composition, recomposition purposes and/or decompositionpurposes, the infrastructure manager (402) may obtain telemetry dataregarding the resources of any number of information handling systemsand/or external resources that are available for allocation. Theinfrastructure manager (402) may aggregate this data in a telemetry datamap (412) which may be subsequently used to identify resources of anynumber of information handling systems and/or external resources tosatisfy composition, recomposition request and/or decompositionrequests.

When the infrastructure manager (402) identifies the resources to beallocated (i.e., resources in an allocatable state), the infrastructuremanager (402) may communicate with any number of system controlprocessors (e.g., of control resource sets of information handlingsystems) to implement the identified allocations. For example, theinfrastructure manager (402) may notify a system control processor of acontrol resource set that portions of a hardware resource set are to beallocated to a compute resource set to instantiate a composedinformation handling system. The system control processor may then takeaction (e.g., prepare the portion of the hardware resource set forpresentation to a processor of the compute resource set) in response tothe notification.

As composed information handling systems are instantiated recomposedand/or decomposed, the infrastructure manager (402) may add informationreflecting the resources allocated to composed information handlingsystems, the workloads being performed by the composed informationhandling systems, the state of the resources (e.g., allocatable,allocated, cleaning) and/or other types of information to aninfrastructure utilization map (414). The infrastructure manager (402)may utilize this information to, for example, decide whether resourcesshould be added to or removed from composed information handlingsystems. Consequently, resources may be dynamically re-provisioned tomeet changing workloads imposed on composed information handlingsystems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a hardware resource including circuitry. Thehardware resource may be, for example, a digital signal processor, afield programmable gate array, or an application specific integratedcircuit. The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardware resource toperform the functionality of the infrastructure manager (402). Theinfrastructure manager (402) may be implemented using other types ofhardware resources without departing from the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a processor adapted to execute computing codestored on a persistent storage that when executed by the processorperforms the functionality of the infrastructure manager (402). Theprocessor may be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, forexample, a central processing unit or a microcontroller. The processormay be other types of hardware resources for processing digitalinformation without departing from the invention.

When providing its functionality, the infrastructure manager (402) mayperform all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-6 .

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (410) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardwareresources and/or logical devices. For example, storage (410) may includeany quantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatilestorage), long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), othertypes of hardware resources that may provide short term and/or long termdata storage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (410) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (410)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (410) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (410) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware resource that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (410) may store data structures including, for example, thetelemetry data map (412) and the infrastructure utilization map (414).These data structures may be maintained by, for example, theinfrastructure manager (402). For example, the infrastructure manager(402) may add, remove, and/or modify information included in these datastructures to cause the information included in these data structure toreflect the state of any number of information handling systems,external resources, and/or composed information handling systems.

While the storage (410) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor manager (50) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor manager in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentsthan those illustrated in FIG. 4 without departing from the invention.

As discussed above, the system of FIG. 1.1 may provide computerimplemented services using composed information handling system bydynamically allocating and deallocating resources for the composedinformation handling systems.

As discussed above, the system of FIG. 1.1 may provide computerimplemented services using composed information handling systems. FIGS.5.1-5.2 show methods that may be performed by components of the systemof FIG. 1.1 to manage composed information handling systems.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.1 may beperformed to provide computer implemented services using a composedinformation handling system in accordance with one or more embodimentsof the invention. The method shown in FIG. 5.1 may be performed by, forexample, a system control processor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1 ). Othercomponents of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or a portion, ofthe method of FIG. 5.1 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.1 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 500, a composition request for a composed information handlingsystem is obtained. The composition request may be obtained using anymethod without departing from the invention. For example, thecomposition request may be obtained as part of a message from anotherentity operably connected to a system control processor manager. Inanother example, the composition request may be locally stored in astorage of a system control processor manager.

The composition request may be a data structure specifying that thecomposed information handling system is to be instantiated. As discussedwith respect to FIG. 3 , the composition request may be specific (i.e.,includes a listing of resources to be allocated to the composedinformation handling system) or intent based (i.e., a desired outcomewithout specifying the resources to be allocated). The compositionrequest may include any type and quantity of information usable todetermine how to instantiate a composed information handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of resources to be allocated to the composed informationhandling system. For example, the composition request may specifyresources, memory resources, storage resources, graphics processingresources, compute acceleration resources, communications resources,etc. The list may include any type and quantity of resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the resources are to be presented. For example, thecomposition request may specify virtualization, emulation, etc. forpresenting the resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the resources used to present the resources are to bemanaged (e.g., a management model such as data integrity, security,management, usability, performance, etc.). For example, the compositionrequest may specify levels of redundancy for data storage, dataintegrity to be employed (e.g., redundant array of independent disks(RAID), error correction code (ECC), etc.), levels of security to beemployed for resources (e.g., encryption), and/or other information thatspecifies how system control processors are to utilize resources forpresentation of resources to composed information handling systems. Themethods employed by the system control processors may be transparent tothe composed information handling systems because the resources may bepresented to the compute resource sets of the composed informationhandling systems as bare metal resources while the system controlprocessors provide the management functionality.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of applications to be hosted by the composed informationhandling system. The list may include any type and quantity ofapplications.

The composition request may also specify the identities of one or moresystem control processors hosted by other devices. In some scenarios, asnoted above, resources from other information handling systems may beused to form a composed information handling system. The identifiers ofthe system control processors of these other information handlingsystems may be used to form operable connections between the systemcontrol processors. These connections may be used by the system controlprocessors to present, as bare metal resources, resources from otherinformation handling systems to compute resource set(s) of the composedinformation handling system.

For example, a system control processor of a first information handlingsystem may manage a storage device as a virtualized resource. The systemcontrol processor may connect to a second system control processorwhich, in turn, is operably connected to a compute resource set. Thesecond control processor may operate as a pass through for the systemcontrol processor while presenting the virtualized resource as a baremetal resource to the compute resource set. Consequently, when thecompute resource set attempts to communicate with the storage, thecompute resource set may send a bare metal communication to the systemcontrol processor, the system control processor may relay the bare metalcommunication to the second system control processor, and the secondsystem control processor may processes the bare metal communication inaccordance with its virtualization model (e.g., converting a logicalblock address to a physical block address in accordance with thevirtualization model) to instruct the storage device to perform one ormore actions to satisfy the bare metal communication.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies a desired outcome. The desired outcome may be, for example,computer implemented services to be provided in response to thecomposition request. In another example, the desired outcome may be alist of applications to be hosted in response to the compositionrequest. In other words, the composition request may specify a desiredoutcome without specifying the resources that are to be used to satisfythe requests, the methods of managing the resources, models employed toprovide for data integrity/security/etc. Such a composition request maybe referred to as an intent based composition request.

In step 502, at least one compute resource set having resourcesspecified by the composition request is identified. The at least onecompute resource set may be identified by matching the resourcesspecified by the composition request to at least one compute resourceset having those resources using a telemetry data map (412, FIG. 4 ).

For example, the telemetry data map (412, FIG. 4 ) may specify a list ofcompute resource sets, identifiers of control resource sets that managethe listed compute resource sets, and the hardware resources of thelisted compute resource sets. By matching the resources specified by thecomposition request to the hardware resources specified in the list, thecompute resource set corresponding to the listed hardware resources maybe identified as the at least one compute resource set.

If no compute resource set includes all of the resources specified bythe composition request, multiple compute resource sets havingsufficient hardware resources to meet the resources specified by thecomposition request may be identified as the at least one computeresource set.

However, the at least one compute resource set may not able to satisfyall of the resources specified by the composition request. As discussedabove, compute resource sets may only include a limited number and typeof hardware resources. Consequently, the at least one compute resourceset may not be able to provide some of the resources (e.g., graphicsprocessing, communications, etc.) specified by the composition request.

In step 504, at least one hardware resource set having hardwareresources specified by the composition request is identified. The atleast one hardware resource set may be identified similarly to thatdescribed with respect to the identified of the at least one computeresource set of step 502. For example, the resources requirementsspecified by the composition request may be matched to compute resourcesets.

In step 506, management services for the at least one compute resourceset and the at least one hardware resource set are setup using at leastone control resource set. The management services may include, forexample, virtualization, emulation, abstraction, indirection, and/orother type of services to meet the requirements of data integrity,security, and/or management models.

The management services may also include monitoring of the utilizationof the hardware resources of the at least one compute resource set andthe at least one hardware resource set. For example, the utilizationmonitor hosted by the system control processor of the at least onecontrol resource set may be configured to perform the monitoring of thehardware resources of these sets. Consequently, the system may begin tomonitor the use of these hardware resources by a client sent thecomposition request.

As discussed above, the utilization manager may be monitoring bycommunicating with the hardware resources of the at least one computeresource set via sideband communication, intercept communications fromthe at least one computing resource set directed toward the at least onehardware resource set to identify how the hardware resources of the atleast compute resource set are using the hardware resources of the atleast one hardware resource set, etc. Consequently, the monitoredcomputing resource use may be transparent to entities executing usingthe at least one compute resource set.

The management services may be setup, in all or in part, via the methodillustrated in FIG. 5.2 .

In step 508, the managed at least one hardware resources are presentedto the managed at least one compute resource set as bare metal resourcesusing the at least one control resource set to instantiate the composedinformation handling system to service the composition request.

To present the managed at least one hardware resource set, the systemcontrol processor manager may instruct the system control processors ofthe at least control resource set to present the managed at least onehardware resource set as discoverable bare metal resources to the atleast one compute resource set. For example, the at least one controlresource set may send a bare metal communication to one or moreprocessors of the managed at least one compute resource set to cause theprocessors to discover the presence of the presented bare metalresources. By doing so, the processors may then begin to utilize themanaged at least one hardware resource set as bare metal resourcesresulting in a composed information handling system having all of theresources necessary to provide desired computer implemented services.

The method may end following step 508.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.1 , a composed informationhandling system may be formed using resources from one or moreinformation handling systems and/or external resources in a manner thatallows of use of the hardware resources of the composed informationhandling system to be monitored.

Turning to FIG. 5.2 , FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The methoddepicted in FIG. 5.2 may be performed to setup management services inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The methodshown in FIG. 5.2 may be performed by, for example, a system controlprocessor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1 ). Other components of the systemin FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or a portion, of the method of FIG. 5.2without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.2 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 510, resource management services for the at least one computeresource set and the at least one hardware resource set are setup.

To setup the resource management services, the system control processormanager may cooperate with the at least one control resource set. Forexample, the system control processor manager may generate instructionsfor implementing the management services, encapsulate the instructionsin a message, and send the message to one or more system controlprocessors of the at least one control resource set. In response toreceiving the message, the system control processors may implement theinstructions thereby implementing any number of management services suchas virtualization, emulation, etc.

The system control processor manager may also include identificationinformation for the system control processors that will cooperate inpresenting resources as part of instantiating a composed informationhandling system. Consequently, the system control processors of controlresource sets that will facilitate bare metal presentation of resourcesto processors of compute resource sets of the composed informationhandling system may be able to identify each other, communicate with oneanother, etc.

Setting up management services for the hardware resource set mayinclude, for example, preparing translation, indirection, or abstractiontables used to translate logical addresses provided by compute resourcesets to physical addresses utilized by hardware resources of thehardware resource set.

In another example, setting up management services may include, if thetype of the resource allocation is a portion of a virtualized resource,making a call to a virtualization resources manager to allocate theportion of resources from an existing virtualized resource or byinstantiating a new virtualized resource and allocating the portion fromthe new virtualized resource.

In a still further example, if the type of the resource allocationrequires an emulated resource, providing management services may includeinstantiating a corresponding emulation layer between a hardwareresource of the hardware resource set and the compute resource set.Consequently, bare metal communications between the compute resource setand the hardware resource used to present the bare metal resource to thecompute resource set may be automatically translated by the systemcontrol processor.

Setting up management services may further include modifying theoperation of one or more devices to provide, for example, data integrityfunctionality (e.g., RAID, ECC, etc.), security functionality (e.g.,encryption), and/or other functionalities that are transparent to thecomposed information handling system.

By setting up management services, a managed at least one computeresource set and a managed at least one hardware resource set may beobtained.

In step 512, a utilization monitor that monitors utilization of the atleast one compute resource set and the at least one hardware resourceset is instantiated.

The utilization monitor may be instantiated by beginning execution of autilization monitor on a system control processor of the at least onecontrol resource set that manages presentation of the at least onehardware resource set to the at least one control resource set. Theutilization monitor may then be configured (e.g., provided an identifierof the composed information handling system and components thereof thatwill be monitored by it) to monitor the use of resources of the composedinformation handling system, performance of applications by the composedinformation handling systems, and/or to otherwise obtain quality metricusable to determine whether the computer implemented services providedby the composed information handling system meets client expectations.If a utilization monitor is already executing on the system controlprocessor, the existing instance of the utilization monitor may beconfigured to monitor the use of resources, application performance,etc. of the composed information handling system.

For example, the system control processor manager may generateinstructions for beginning execution and/or configuration of theutilization monitor, encapsulate the instructions in a message, and sendthe message the system control processor. In response to receiving themessage, the system control processor may implement the instructionsthereby instantiating the utilization monitor and beginning monitoringof the use of the resources of the composed information handling system.

The method may end following step 512.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.2 , management services for acomposed information handling system may be setup that allows forcomputing resource use information to be collected in a manner that istransparent to entities hosted by the composed information handlingsystem. The aforementioned information may be utilized to identifywhether computer implemented services provided by the composedinformation handling system meets client expectations.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 6 may beperformed to process resources associated with a decomposed informationhandling system in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. The method shown in FIG. 6 may be performed by, for example,a system control processor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1 ). Othercomponents of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or a portion, ofthe method of FIG. 6 without departing from the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the resources that are usedto create the composed systems may be utilized and/or accessible tomultiple tenants For example, a given storage device may be part of afirst composed information handling system for a first tenant at a firstperiod of time and be part of a second composed information handlingsystem for a second tenant for a second period of time. In thisscenario, during the first period of time, the first tenant may storedata in the storage device, and then at a second point in time thesecond tenant will have access to the storage device. If no steps aretaken to delete the first tenant's data from the storage device (orotherwise make it unreadable), the second tenant may be able to accessthe first tenant's data on the storage device. To address this potentialsecurity issue, embodiments of the invention implement the method shownin FIG. 6 to clean previously allocated resources, e.g., the storagedevice in the above example, prior to such resources being available tobe allocated to another composed information handling system.

In addition to addressing the aforementioned security issue, tofacilitate composition of composed information handling systems, thesystem control processor manager (and/or other components in the system)include functionality to determine a current configuration of aresource, obtain a default configuration for the resource (which may bespecified by a tenant and/or any other entity), and then update (orinitiate the update of) the configuration of the resource to the defaultconfiguration. Once the resource has been cleaned (if appropriate basedon the type of resource), and its configuration has been set to adefault configuration (if appropriate based on the type of resource),the resource may be set in an allocatable state (i.e., it is availablefor allocation in a composed information handling system). By settingthe resource in a known state, the security issues noted above areaddressed and further the system control processors, which will be awarethat the resources are in a known default configuration. Therefore theyare able to apply the appropriate configurations to the resources toplace them in a state that allows them to be readily used in thecomposed information handling system. Said another way, because theresources will be in a known state (i.e., have a default configuration),the system control processors do not have to determine the configurationof the resources before deploying them in a composed informationhandling system. Rather, the system control processor can assume thatthe resources have a particular configuration because they are in anallocatable state and, based on this understanding, can efficiently takesteps to deploy the resource. If there is no known state of theresource, then either the system controller processor takes additionalsteps to determine the configuration parameters, and then modify theconfiguration parameters prior to deploying the resource, or the systemcontrol processor deploys the resource without checking the state of theresource. In the latter case, if the configuration of the resource isnot compatible with the other resources in the composed informationhandling system, then the composed information handling system may notoperate as expected.

While FIG. 6 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps included,and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a parallel, and/orpartially overlapping manner without departing from the invention.

In step 600, a decomposition request is received for a composedinformation handling system. The decomposition request may specify thatall or a portion of a given composed information handling system needsto be decomposed.

In step 602, decomposition of the composed information handling system(or a portion of it thereof) is initiated. The initiation of thedecomposition may include identifying the resources that are part of thecomposed system, and then sending instructions for the appropriatesystem control processors to deallocate the resource that they controland/or manage.

In one embodiment, the system control processor manager may instruct thecomposed information handling system (via the appropriate system controlprocessors) to terminate the workload prior to the deallocation of theresources of the composed information handling system.

In another embodiment, the system control processor manager may initiatethe transfer of the workload on the composed information handling systemto another composed information handling system. Once the workload hasbeen transferred, the system control processor may issue the instructionto deallocate the resources.

In one embodiment, the system control processor manager may instruct thecomposed information handling system (via the appropriate system controlprocessors) to transfer the workload prior to deallocation the resourcesof the composed information handling system.

Once the composed information handling system has taken the appropriatesteps with respect to terminating and/or transferring the workload, itdeallocates the resources by placing them in a cleaning state. The stateof these resources may be reflected in the resource map (316) and/or inthe infrastructure utilization map (414). When a resource is in acleaning state it may not be allocated to a new or existing composedinformation handling system.

In step 604, a determination is made about whether the resources in thecomposed handling system are ready to be cleaned. This determination isbased on whether all resources that need to be decomposed are in acleaning state. If the resources are still being transitioned from theallocated state to the cleaning state by the appropriate system controlprocessors, then the process proceeds to step 606; otherwise, theprocess proceeds to step 608.

In step 606, the system control processor manager waits until theresources are ready to be cleaned (i.e., they are in a cleaning state).

In step 608, once the resources are in a cleaning state, a cleaningservice may be initiated. In one embodiment of the invention, thecleaning service includes functionality to perform the appropriatecleaning operation on the resource. The result of performing thecleaning operation is to either (i) remove all user data from theresource or (ii) render the user data unreadable.

The cleaning service may be implemented on an information handlingsystem (e.g., 50) or on a composed information handling system. In thelatter case, the system may include an information handling system thatis ready to perform the aforementioned functionality of the cleaningservice (i.e., a dedicated information handling system). Alternatively,the cleaning service may be initiated on an information handling systemor a composed information handling system only when the cleaning serviceis required (i.e., when there are resources to clean).

Accordingly, step 608 may only be performed if a cleaning service needsto initiated.

In step 610, the system control processor includes functionality todetermine if a given resource needs to be cleaned (e.g., if the resourceincludes user data, i.e., data that was stored by a user of the composedinformation handling system) and, if so, determines the appropriatecleaning operation. The cleaning operation may include: (i) executingone or more specialized software applications to delete the user datafrom the resource, and/or to overwrite the user data on the resourcewith other data, or (ii) deleting an encryption key on the resource inscenarios in which the resource is a self-encrypting drive and all userdata on the drive is stored as encrypted data using the encryption key.In the latter scenario, when the encryption key is deleted there is noother mechanism to convert the encrypted data to user data; thus, theuser data is rendered unreadable. Other cleaning operations may beperformed without departing from the invention. The cleaning operationsmay be specified on a per-resource basis, on a per-tenant basis, on anyother basis, and/or any combination thereof.

If no cleaning operation is required, then the process proceeds to step614.

In step 612, the system control processor instructs the cleaning serviceto perform the cleaning operation on the resource. In response toreceiving this request, the cleaning service may connect (e.g., via anetwork) to the resource and then perform the appropriate cleaningoperation. Once the cleaning operation has been performed, the cleaningservice informs the system control processor manager that the cleaningoperation has been completed and the system control processor updatesthe information in the infrastructure utilization map (414) to indicatethat the cleaning operation has been completed.

In step 614, the system control processor manager determines the currentconfiguration of the resource. The system control processor manager mayuse an application program interface (API) exposed by the resource todirectly connect to the resource and obtain information about theresource. Alternatively, the system control processor manager may obtainthe configuration information from the system control processor that isdirectly connected to the resource.

In step 616, a determination is made whether the configuration of theresource (i.e., based on information obtained in step 614) is thedefault configuration. The default configuration corresponds to aconfiguration that is set by a tenant or some other entity. The systemcontrol processor manager may store the information about the defaultconfiguration in the infrastructure utilization map (414), in anotherdata structure, and/or obtain the default configuration from an externalsource. If the configuration of the resource is the defaultconfiguration or if there is no default configuration for the givenresource, then the state of the resource is set to allocatable and theprocess ends; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 618.

In step 618, the system control processor manager uses an API exposed bythe resource to directly connect to the resource and modify itsconfiguration to the default configuration. Alternatively, the systemcontrol processor manager may obtain the configuration information fromthe system control processor that is directly connected to the resource.Once the configuration has been updated, the system control processormanager updates the information in the infrastructure utilization map(414) to set the state of the resource to allocatable.

If there are multiple resources to be processed, then steps 610-618 maybe performed for each resource.

To further clarify embodiments of the invention, a non-limiting exampleis provided in FIGS. 7.1-7.2 . Actions performed by components of theillustrated system are illustrated by numbered, circular boxesinterconnected, in part, using dashed lines terminating in arrows. Forthe sake of brevity, only a limited number of components from the systemof FIG. 1.1 is illustrated in FIGS. 7.1 and 7.2 .

Example

FIGS. 7.1-7.2 show diagrams of the operation of an example system overtime in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.Consider a scenario in which there are two information handling systems(IHS) (710, 720), where certain resources in each of these IHSs make upa composed IHS. More specifically, the composed IHS includes resourcecompute set A (712), GPU (716), and storage unit B (726). The composedIHS is managed by the system control processor manager (700), whichmanages the composed IHS via system control processor A and B (714,724).

In this scenario, after the composed IHS is deployed and executing aworkload, the system control processor manager (700) receives adecomposition request from an external entity (not shown). In responseto the decomposition request, the system control processor manager (700)instructs system control processor A (714) to start deallocating theresources associated with the composed IHS [1]. System control processorA (714) takes steps to deallocate compute resource set A (712) and GPU(716); and instructs system control processor B (724) to deallocatestorage unit B (726) [2]. System control processor B (724), in responseto the instructions from system control processor A (714), takes stepsto deallocate storage unit B (726) [3]. At this stage, the state of allof the resources in the composed IHS (which is now decomposed) is set tocleaning and system control processor A (714) notifies the systemcontrol processor manager (700) that the state of all of the resourcesin the composed IHS (which is now decomposed) is set to cleaning [4].

The system control processor manager (700) determines that computeresource set A (712) does not need to be cleaned (i.e., no cleaningoperation is required) but that GPU (716) and storage unit B (726) needto be cleaned. For the GPU (716) the cleaning operation to be performedto clear its cache and the cleaning operation for storage unit B (726)is DoD 5220. 22-M ECE. The system control processor manager (700)subsequently instructs the cleaning service (722) (which was previouslyinstantiated on an IHS (not shown)) to perform the aforementionedcleaning operations [5].

Referring to FIG. 7.2 , the cleaning service (722) connects to storageunit B (726) and performs the specified cleaning operation to render anyuser data on storage unit B (726) unreadable [6]. The cleaning service(722) connects to GPU (716) and performs the specified cleaningoperation to clear the cache on the GPU (716) [7]. Once the cleaningoperations are completed, the cleaning service (722) notifies the systemcontrol processor manager (700) [8].

The system control processor manager (700) then determines that the GPU(716) needs to be set to a default configuration and sends a request toget the current configuration of the GPU (716) [9]. The system controlprocessor manager (700) determines that the current configuration of theGPU (716) matches the default configuration. Further, the system controlprocessor manager (700) determines that no other resources that weredeallocated need to have their configurations set to a default value. Atthis stage, the system control processor manager (700) sets the state ofall of the resources to allocatable [10].

End of Example

As discussed above, embodiments of the invention may be implementedusing computing devices. FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a computing device inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The computingdevice (800) may include one or more computer processors (802),non-persistent storage (804) (e.g., volatile memory, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), cache memory), persistent storage (806) (e.g., ahard disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digitalversatile disk (DVD) drive, a flash memory, etc.), a communicationinterface (812) (e.g., Bluetooth interface, infrared interface, networkinterface, optical interface, etc.), input devices (810), output devices(808), and numerous other elements (not shown) and functionalities. Eachof these components is described below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer processor(s) (802) maybe an integrated circuit for processing instructions. For example, thecomputer processor(s) may be one or more cores or micro-cores of aprocessor. The computing device (800) may also include one or more inputdevices (810), such as a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, microphone,touchpad, electronic pen, or any other type of input device. Further,the communication interface (812) may include an integrated circuit forconnecting the computing device (800) to a network (not shown) (e.g., alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as theInternet, mobile network, or any other type of network) and/or toanother device, such as another computing device.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computing device (800) mayinclude one or more output devices (808), such as a screen (e.g., aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, touchscreen, cathode raytube (CRT) monitor, projector, or other display device), a printer,external storage, or any other output device. One or more of the outputdevices may be the same or different from the input device(s). The inputand output device(s) may be locally or remotely connected to thecomputer processor(s) (802), non-persistent storage (804), andpersistent storage (806). Many different types of computing devicesexist, and the aforementioned input and output device(s) may take otherforms.

One or more embodiments of the invention address the potential securityand configuration issues that may arise when reusing resources indifferent composable systems that are used by different tenants.

The problems discussed above should be understood as being examples ofproblems solved by embodiments of the invention and the invention shouldnot be limited to solving the same/similar problems. The disclosedinvention is broadly applicable to address a range of problems beyondthose discussed herein.

One or more embodiments of the invention may be implemented usinginstructions executed by one or more processors of a computing device.Further, such instructions may correspond to computer readableinstructions that are stored on one or more non-transitory computerreadable mediums.

While the invention has been described above with respect to a limitednumber of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit ofthis disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devisedwhich do not depart from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, thescope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for providing computer implementedservices using information handling systems, comprising: persistentstorage; and a system control processor manager programmed to: receive arequest to decompose a composed information handling system, wherein thecomposed information handling system comprises a hardware resource;obtain a cleaning requirement for the hardware resource; initiate, basedon the cleaning requirement, a cleaning operation on the hardwareresource; receive a confirmation that the cleaning operation iscomplete; and after receiving the confirmation, set a state of thehardware resource to allocatable.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thecomposed information handling system further comprises a second hardwareresource; wherein the system control processor manager is furtherprogrammed to: obtain a configuration of the second hardware resource;determine that the configuration does not match a default configurationof the second hardware resource; in response the determination,initiation modification of the configuration of the second hardwareresource to match the default configuration; after the configuration ofthe second hardware resource matches the default configuration, set astate of the second hardware resource to allocatable.
 3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the second hardware resource is a graphics processingunit.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the hardware resource is astorage device.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the cleaning operationcomprises issuing a command to the hardware resource to delete a storedencryption key on the storage device, wherein all user data stored onthe storage device is encrypted using the stored encryption key.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the cleaning operation renders all user dataon the hardware resource unreadable.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereininitiating the cleaning operation on the hardware resource comprises:initiating a connection between the hardware resource and a cleaningservice; and instructing the cleaning service to perform the cleaningoperation on the hardware resource.
 8. The system of claim 1, whereininitiating the cleaning operation on the hardware resource comprises:composing a second composed information handling system, wherein acleaning service is executing on the second composed informationhandling system initiating a connection between the hardware resourceand a cleaning service; and instructing the cleaning service to performthe cleaning operation on the hardware resource.
 9. The system of claim1, wherein initiating the cleaning operation on the hardware resourceoccurs after the hardware resource has transition from an allocatedstate to a cleaning state, wherein a system control processor in thecomposed information handling system facilitates the transition of thehardware resource from the allocated state to the cleaning state.
 10. Amethod for providing computer implemented services using informationhandling systems, comprising: receiving a request to decompose acomposed information handling system, wherein the composed informationhandling system comprises a hardware resource; obtaining a cleaningrequirement for the hardware resource; initiating, based on the cleaningrequirement, a cleaning operation on the hardware resource; receiving aconfirmation that the cleaning operation is complete; and afterreceiving the confirmation, setting a state of the hardware resource toallocatable.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the composedinformation handling system further comprises a second hardwareresource; wherein the method further comprises: obtaining aconfiguration of the second hardware resource; determining that theconfiguration does not match a default configuration of the secondhardware resource; in response the determination, initiatingmodification of the configuration of the second hardware resource tomatch the default configuration; and after the configuration of thesecond hardware resource matches the default configuration, setting astate of the second hardware resource to allocatable.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the second hardware resource is a graphics processingunit.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the hardware resource is astorage device.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the cleaningoperation comprises issuing a command to the hardware resource to deletea stored encryption key on the storage device, wherein all user datastored on the storage device is encrypted using the stored encryptionkey.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the cleaning operation rendersall user data on the hardware resource unreadable.
 16. The method ofclaim 10, wherein initiating the cleaning operation on the hardwareresource comprises: initiating a connection between the hardwareresource and a cleaning service; and instructing the cleaning service toperform the cleaning operation on the hardware resource.
 17. The methodof claim 10, wherein initiating the cleaning operation on the hardwareresource comprises: composing a second composed information handlingsystem, wherein a cleaning service is executing on the second composedinformation handling system initiating a connection between the hardwareresource and a cleaning service; and instructing the cleaning service toperform the cleaning operation on the hardware resource.
 18. The methodof claim 10, wherein initiating the cleaning operation on the hardwareresource occurs after the hardware resource has transition from anallocated state to a cleaning state, wherein a system control processorin the composed information handling system facilitates the transitionof the hardware resource from the allocated state to the cleaning state.19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computerreadable program code, which when executed by a computer processorenables the computer processor to perform a method for providingcomputer implemented services using information handling systems, themethod comprising: receiving a request to decompose a composedinformation handling system, wherein the composed information handlingsystem comprises a storage device; obtaining a cleaning requirement forthe storage device; initiating, based on the cleaning requirement, acleaning operation on the storage device; receiving a confirmation thatthe cleaning operation is complete; and after receiving theconfirmation, setting a state of the storage device to allocatable. 20.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein thecomposed information handling system further comprises a graphicsprocessing unit; wherein the method further comprises: obtaining aconfiguration of the graphics processing unit; determining that theconfiguration does not match a default configuration of the graphicsprocessing unit; in response the determination, initiating modificationof the configuration of the graphics processing unit to match thedefault configuration; and after the configuration of the graphicsprocessing unit matches the default configuration, setting a state ofthe second hardware resource to allocatable.